Castle Rock Regional Park
Mon, 16 Apr 2001 17:44:31 PDT
From: Jim Tietz
Hi everyone-
I went birding today at Castle Rock Regional Park from 8 AM to 3 PM. This included the main trail up Pine Canyon to the dammed pond which is about a mile into Mt Diablo State Park. I encountered 74 species and 5 nests. All nests were within 15 meters of the trail.
The species are listed below with approximate abundances:
20 to 50 Turkey Vulture - hard to tell if the same ones
5 Mallard
1 Sharp-shinned Hawk - immature
2 Cooper's Hawk - 2 at their nest
3 Red-tailed Hawk - 1 immature
2 American Kestrel
2 Peregrine Falcon - seen by other hikers, but missed by me
8 California Quail
5 Mourning Dove
8 feral pigeon (Rock Dove)
6 Band-tailed Pigeon
20 White-throated Swift
10 Anna's Hummingbird - mostly female/immature
4 Acorn Woodpecker
2 Downy Woodpecker
2 Hairy Woodpecker - nest found in valley oak
8 Nuttall's Woodpecker
2 Northern Flicker
8 Pacific-slope Flycatcher
3 Hammond's Flycatcher
3 Black Phoebe
1 Ash-throated Flycatcher
1 Western Kingbird
15 Warbling Vireo
15 Hutton's Vireo
6 Cassin's Vireo
5 Steller's Jay
12 Western Scrub-Jay
2 Common Raven
8 Violet-green Swallow
12 Cliff Swallow
20 Oak Titmouse
18 Bushtit - nest found in live oak
3 White-breasted Nuthatch
6 Brown Creeper
5 Bewick's Wren
15 House Wren
3 Wrentit
3 Ruby-crowned Kinglet
4 Blue-gray Gnatcatcher
5 Western Bluebird - nest found in valley oak
6 American Robin
1 Hermit Thrush
1 Northern Mockingbird
3 European Starling
3 American Pipit
30 Orange-crowned Warbler
20 Nashville Warbler
25 Audubon's Warbler
2 Myrtle Warbler
10 Black-throated Gray Warbler
2 Townsend's Warbler
2 Hermit Warbler
2 Common Yellowthroat
20 Wilson's Warbler
6 Black-headed Grosbeak
2 Lazuli Bunting
20 Spotted Towhee
25 California Towhee
1 Rufous-crowned Sparrow
6 Savannah Sparrow
30 Golden-crowned Sparrow
3 White-crowned Sparrow
1 Fox Sparrow
8 Song Sparrow
5 Lincoln's Sparrow
35 "Oregon" Dark-eyed Juncos - 1 nest found with 4 chicks; 1 fledgling with parent
3 Western Meadowlark
1 Brown-headed Cowbird
15 Red-winged Blackbird
2 Brewer's Blackbird
1 Bullock's Oriole
1 Purple Finch
7 House Finch
30 Lesser Goldfinch
5 American Goldfinch
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Mon, 16 Apr 2001 20:05:55 -0700
From: Johan Langewis
An Olive-sided Flycatcher made its appearance in my yard today, which is located in the Oakland hills just south of Shepherd Canyon and two blocks below Skyline Blvd (see my yard list at the website for yard description). The following are arrival dates for this species:
23 April 1993
23 April 1994
2 May 1995
30 April 1996
25 April 1997
21 April 1998
26 April 1999 ?? (on 3-week vacation until 25 April, but not heard on that day)
14 April 2000
16 April 2001
The Pacific-slope Flycatcher finally made an appearance on 14 April even though I have heard it in the area since 30 March. Happy birding.
Johan Langewis
Lafayette yard birds
Mon, 16 Apr 2001 20:44:58 PDT
From: Jim Tietz
Hi-
Late this afternoon, I added Hammond's Flycatcher and Black-throated Gray Warbler to our yard list in Lafayette.
There were at least 7 Cedar Waxwings in our yard still and an adult Cooper's Hawk flew over carrying a prey item.
Jim Tietz
Coyote Hills Regional Park
Mon, 16 Apr 2001 21:10:23 -0700
From: Lillian Fujii & Steve Hayashi
Coyote Hills Regional Park (Fremont, Alameda County) around the area of the visitor center was quite birdy on Sunday 15 April, but not nearly as birdy as Castle Rock Regional Park, although we surely missed more than a few birds. Highlights included:
Vaux's Swift - 1
Swainson's Thrush - at least 4
Hermit Thrush - 1
Lincoln's Sparrow - 1 that stared at us a long time
Black-throated Gray Warbler - 1
an easy-to-photograph California Thrasher
many singing Wilson's Warblers
We found no Empidonax flycatchers.
Lillian Fujii and Steve Hayashi
Easter in Redwood Regional Park
Tue, 17 Apr 2001 00:36:02 PDT
From: Anthony Fisher
Howdy.
Found 2 Cooper's Hawk in the oaks, an adult male and immature female. There was no obvious nest that I could see, but they had been frequenting the area for some time judging by the amount of whitewash visible. They were reluctant to leave their perches and when they did, moved only a short distance away. The female was barking quietly, 2 to 3 at a time, for most of our visit. I'll check on them later to see if they are nesting. Do the birds breed in their first year?
Saw no Varied Thrush this time. I assume they have all left the area. Observed a trio of Pine Siskins feeding on worms in an oak on the East Ridge Trail. A male fed a female a worm and they all flew off to the east. A singing Black-throated Gray Warbler was in the area.
Still no Black-headed Grosbeaks yet.
Bird on,
Anthony Fisher